Stampedes at crowded events continue to result in loss of life in India. While most organizers escape accountability, the recent arrest of Allu Arjun in the Telangana stampede has reignited calls for stricter and more consistent legal action across all such cases.
By PC Bureau
In India, stampedes are not new. Scores of people die every year in several incidents of overcrowding, mostly at religious places. But the law has different yardsticks to judge them.
Take the case of the stampede on Thursday at Sandhya Theatre during the Pushpa-2 premiere. Actor Allu Arjun, the lead actor of the movie, was on Friday sent to 14-day judicial custody by a local court in Telangana in connection with the stampede. The actor was later granted interim bail by the Telangana High Court.
The stampede claimed the life of Revathi, a 35-year-old woman, on December 4. Her son is still undergoing treatment.
Now, let’s go back six months in time to Hathras, where at least 121 people, including 106 women and seven children, were killed after a stampede broke out at a religious function.
A large crowd of 250,000 devotees of the religious leader Suraj Pal, also known as Bhole Baba, gathered for a satsang (prayer meeting) in a village in Hathras. About 80,000 of them had been allowed to enter a field serving as the main venue for the prayer meeting.
Many people had gathered in a makeshift tent where the prayer meeting was taking place, pitched atop muddy terrain. Chaos erupted when Bhole Baba got off stage and left the tent to get into his car after the prayer meeting.
Visuals from the Community Health Centre showed several bodies being brought there in buses and tempos in the presence of crying relatives.
Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath set up a committee to investigate the incident. But the Baba who organized the conclave was not even questioned. Nor did his name appear in the FIR.
Despite clear signs of mismanagement leading to the tragedy, which claimed numerous lives, the lack of action against Suraj Pal reflects a troubling pattern in the country’s legal system. Critics argue that such instances of selective law enforcement only perpetuate a culture of impunity, where powerful figures are shielded from consequences while ordinary citizens suffer.
Cases like Hathras abound. In March 2023, a tragic stampede during a Ram Navami celebration at a temple in Indore, Madhya Pradesh, claimed the lives of 36 people. Despite the loss of life, the event’s organizers faced no significant legal consequences, raising concerns about accountability and safety measures at large religious gatherings.
On January 1, 2022, a stampede at the Mata Vaishno Devi shrine in Jammu and Kashmir resulted in the tragic deaths of 12 devotees and injuries to several others. The incident occurred during the New Year rush, as thousands of pilgrims gathered to offer prayers at the revered site.
Eyewitness accounts indicated that overcrowding and poor crowd management were key factors leading to the disaster. Despite the loss of lives and subsequent public outcry, no officials from the shrine board were held accountable or faced legal action.
The arrest of Allu Arjun has reignited discussions on the need for uniform laws and impartial enforcement in cases of stampedes.
